LinkedIn Corp has been forced to pay $6 million in back overtime and damages to 359 current and former employees after a US Department of Labor investigation found the company violated wage laws.

The career networking company will pay more than $3.3 million in retroactive overtime wages and more than $2.5 million in damages to workers in California, Illinois, Nebraska and New York.

A Labor Department representative said LinkedIn has mailed the payments to the workers covered by the settlement.

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Payout: LinkedIn will pay more than $3.3 million in retroactive overtime wages and more than $2.5 million in damages to workers in California (pictured), Illinois, Nebraska and New York

LinkedIn has 'shown a great deal of integrity by fully cooperating with investigators and stepping up to the plate without hesitation to help make workers whole,' said David Weil, the administrator of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, in a statement.

A spokeswoman said that talent is LinkedIn's No. 1 priority, adding that the company was eager to work closely with the Labor Department to reach the settlement.

'This was a function of not having the right tools in place for a small subset of our sales force to track hours properly,' said Shannon Stubo, vice president of corporate communications.

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The Labor Department's investigation revealed that LinkedIn, based in Mountain View, California, failed to record and compensate workers for all hours worked, violating provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

In addition to the settlement payment, LinkedIn will train all employees that 'off-the-clock work' is prohibited for all non-exempt workers, the Labor Department said.

Taking action: The Department of Labor announced Monday that LinkedIn has agreed to issue $3.3 million in overtime back pay as well as $2.5 million in damages to 359 current and former employees

The FLSA requires that non-exempt workers, who are not salaried managers, be paid the federal minimum hourly wage of $7.25 plus overtime pay at the minimum rate of 1.5 times the regular hourly rate for hours worked past 40 in a given work week.

LinkedIn's shares closed at $202.50 on Monday, up 0.4 percent on a day when the major U.S. stock indexes bounced back after Friday's sharp selloff.